I have a guilty secret as a librarian for a school of avid readers: when it comes to reading, I can't keep up with my students. To be fair, our elementary school is huge--over 1250 students--so there's no way I could read everything that they read. I rely on Kirkus reviews, popular series continuations, classics, award winners and nominees, and recommendations from librarians, students, and book lovers to guide my purchases...but I rarely get to read every single book that is added to our collection.
Sponsoring our school's fifth grade Book Lunch Bunch helps me stretch as a reader, since I read alongside our groups that decide to share a common book. My boys' group indicated that they like historical fiction. We have just a couple of weeks before our first group meeting, so I chose Lauren Tarshis' I Survived the Japanese Tsunami, 2011.
Tarshis' I Survived series books get checked out all the time in our library, but I had never stopped to read one. I can see now why they are popular! The story itself is short--only 83 pages long--but is followed by more than a dozen pages of facts about this specific event, tsunamis in general, and thoughts about the terror and despair the victims must have felt during the earthquake, tsunami, and devastation that followed. Tarshis gives a nod to the Japanese concept of gaman--perseverance in the face of difficulty.
George Takei talked about this spirit of gaman in a plea to help Japan recover from the tsunami:
I Survived the Japanese Tsunami plunges us into the disaster with the main character, Ben, from page one. We get Ben's background story in the second chapter, and learn that it is the memory of Ben's courageous military father that pulls him through his near-drowning and separation from his family. The book ends on a high note, so readers are left more with the feeling of gaman than of sadness.
I enjoyed my first I Survived story! I hope that my group will have plenty to talk about when we meet in a couple of weeks.
It's Monday! What book are you sharing with friends this week?
Last night I finished the "Origin" by Dan Brown. An exciting, interesting read about the origin of human life on earth, without Adam and Eve. I have got thru Page 1 of my next read, "The Winner" by David Baldacci. All of this thanks to you for giving me a Kindle. However, I must confess that lately I have been downloading my reads to my iPad!!! I thank you for getting my face back between the pages. Have a great day/ Love Ya, Dad.
ReplyDeleteP.S. 79 books to date. Reading number 80!!!
That's impressive, Dad! Origin is on my to-read list, too...if I can find time to read a "grown-up" book!
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